Falling
by AceLightning
Summary: An AU. The Vong arrive during Episode II. This will have dire consequences for the Republic and the Jedi. And even Palpatine might have to revise his plans.
1. Geonosis

**A/N: **This story is an AU where the Yuuzhan Vong arrive in the Galaxy during the end of Episode II. What will be the consequences? The Clone Wars will play out differently. Dooku's agenda will be more shrouded in mystery than ever. Palpatine may have to revise his plans for the future. And one thing is for sure: the Galaxy will never be the same again.

**Ch.**** 1 Geonosis**

      Warmaster Czulkang Lah watched with pride as his five-year-old son, Tsavong Lah, held the lobster-like yanskac in the boiling water with his own bare hands. This was his son's first kill, an occasion to be remembered indeed. Then he returned his attention to the Intendant before him, Chastae Anor. Czulkang Lah had heard that the mate of this Intendant had recently given birth to the couple's child, a male who had been named Nom Anor. The Warmaster replied, "Continue with your report."

    Chastae Anor bowed and continued. "I have obtained information that the political faction among the infidels known as the Separatists is building a fleet on a sort of foundry world called Geonosis and that the established government of this Galaxy, known as the Galactic Republic, is sending a fleet to this world to make war. Therefore I have instructed my agents to place a dovin basal on this planet to perform…Yo'gand's Core.

  Warmaster Lah's eyebrows raised in amusement. Yo'gand's Core was a tactic that involved using a dovin basal, a powerful creature that could control gravity, to pull the moon of a planet down into it's atmosphere, thus destroying the world. This Intendant was quite clever indeed.

***

      Explosions roared across the ground as the Battle of Geonosis unfolded as the Separatists and the Republic's Clone Army faced off for the first time. Anakin gazed down from the Republic gunship in amazement. The galaxy hadn't had a full scale war for over a thousand years. Suddenly, he felt something unusual in the Force, as if…

 A large burning object crashed into the battlefield, obliterating a mesa and bringing up a cloud of ash. The object was followed by another and another. It suddenly seemed as if burning rocks were raining down out of the sky. "Master, what's going on?!" yelled Anakin as he grabbed Padme Amidala around her waist to keep her from falling out of the gunship.

       Obi-Wan Kenobi was listening intently to a comlink. Apparently, he was communicating with Master Yoda. Then he looked at Anakin with shock on his face. "Anakin…Geonosis' moon is falling from its orbit. Those objects falling from the sky must be fragments of it! The moon itself should be crashing into the planet shortly! We've been ordered to evacuate!"

      "But Master, what about Dooku?!" yelped Anakin. Obi-Wan shook his head and replied, "We don't have time, young Padawan. We must leave immediately or we will die." The clones piloting the gunship were already sealing the bay doors at the sides and ascending higher into the sky. Anakin looked out a viewport, his arm still about Padme's waist, and watched as all the forces, both Republic and Separatist, scrambled toward their ships, hustling to leave the doomed world of Geonosis. For many units, the struggle was made futile by the meteor showed and by tremendous quakes that were shaking the planet's buckling surface. Then he looked up and gasped. The moon was in flames and descending through the atmosphere.

***

       Yoda, Mace Windu, Plo Koon, and Aayla Secura gazed out their viewports in shock as their gunship rose into the sky, swerving to avoid fragments of the moon. One of the clones shouted, "We're leaving the upper atmosphere! But the gunship carrying Luminara Unduli and Barriss Offee has crashed onto a mountaintop!"

      Yoda and the others looked at each other in alarm. They reached out to the two Jedi. They could feel that they were still alive, but in terrible pain. Then, they felt an unbelievably huge ripple in the Force as the moon of Geonosis crashed into the planet and the presences of Luminara and Barriss were torn away.

***

         Anakin and Padme shared their first kiss as husband and wife. Then they gazed at each other with tears in their eyes. They were married, but they knew something terrible was about to happen to the Galaxy. Moons didn't just fall for no reason. Anakin tried to push it to the back of his mind as he held Padme to his chest. He didn't want to ever let her go.

***

       Darth Sidious listened intently to Dooku's report. Something was going on. He didn't know exactly what, but he would soon. Nothing would stop his vision from coming true.


	2. Incursion

**Ch.**** 2 Incursion**

THREE MONTHS LATER…

   "I am hereby announcing to the public, that the construction of the Death Star is underway right here in the Coruscant system," proclaimed Chancellor Palpatine. The Senate was in an uproar. This whole "Death Star" project had been seen as controversial from the moment it was proposed, almost immediately following the destruction of Geonosis. 

      A little while later, after Palpatine left the Senate chamber, leaving the Senators to endlessly debate his speech over their lunchbreaks, he sat down in his office and breathed in heavily. These Yuuzhan Vong were proving to be a challenge even for him. He had secretly contacted their Warmaster once, as Darth Sidious, and asked him to consider an alliance with the Sith. Czulkang Lah had refused.

     By now, the Vong had conquered Wild Space, Alzoc III and several other planets in the Geonosis region. They'd also pushed into Hutt Space and destroyed Gamorr along the way. They were currently engaged with Republic forces over Mon Calamari, but from recent reports, Palpatine knew the Republic troops were not faring well.

     Suddenly, Mas Amedda, one of Palpatine's aides, rushed in, breaking the silence. "Chancellor, the Yuuzhan Vong are attacking Tatooine! A group of clones and Jedi has been deployed to the planet." Palpatine quickly sat up in his high-backed chair and hurriedly asked, "Is Anakin Skywalker one of the Jedi there?" Mas Amedda looked at him with a bewildered expression on his face before consulting his datapad and replying, "Yes…Yes he is."

   Palpatine relaxed in his chair. "You may leave," he said lazily. Mas Amedda stared at him one more moment before reluctantly turning around and leaving the Supreme Chancellor to his meditations once more.

***

       "Anakin, no!!!" "Let me go, Master!!!" yelled Anakin, struggling to break out of Obi-Wan's arms and rush towards the flaming ruins of Mos Espa. "All my friends were there!" he yelled. "Anakin, you know as well as I do that it's too late. They may have escaped, though," replied Obi-Wan.

       Anakin paid his master no heed and broke free and rushed into the blaze. He stumbled around through the smoke-filled streets, tripping over corpses that were burned beyond all recognition. He finally saw someone he recognized, lying prone in front of the burning remains of his workshop. Anakin rushed up to Watto and kneeled down and shook him. Anakin had never really liked the Toydarian, but deep down, he didn't hate his former master. 

    "Watto, Watto, are you awake?" he asked. The Toydarian slowly opened his eyelids and muttered, "Ani…little Ani…" then shut his eyes again. Anakin checked Watto's pulse and moaned. Watto was gone.

        He looked around some more before emerging from the ruins, walking slowly back to Obi-Wan. Anakin's face was blackened and his robes were torn by this time. Obi-Wan put a comforting hand on his Padawan's shoulder and said, "Anakin, I'm sorry." 

     Anakin, staring at the ground, muttered, "Don't worry, Master. It's not your fault that my hometown is in flames, that Watto is dead and that most of my old friends are probably dead too." Then he moaned and continued, "I just think I should've been here to protect them all. I mean I wasn't here and now…now the slave quarters where my mom and I lived is nothing more than a crater, the Arena where I won my freedom in that Podrace looks like a mountain of ash…"

    Obi-Wan's comlink beeped and he picked it up, listened for a moment, and told Anakin, "Come. The order's been given to evacuate. Let's get back to our starfighters." Anakin silently nodded and he and Obi-Wan slowly walked back to their Jedi Starfighters, to start the painful journey back to Coruscant.

***

       After much deliberation, Czulkang Lah had decided which two planets he would target next. He motioned for his friend, the priestess Falung and her pet, a feathery creature known as Vergere. Falung bowed and said, "How may I be of service, Warmaster?" Czulkang Lah replied, "Tell your fellow priests to prepare to make the appropriate sacrifices, for I am about to strike two worlds that will impact the Republic quite psychologically." Falung bowed and left, motioning Vergere to follow her.

   Czulkang Lah leaned back in his cognition thrown and stroked a villip, an organic communications device that was psychicly linked to another of it's kind, allowing communication. The villip changed into the form of the head of one of Czulkang Lah's commanders. The Warmaster said, "Prepare to attack Kamino and Naboo."


	3. Domination

**Ch.**** 3 Domination**

**   A/N: **For those of you who don't know, the Dark Reaper, which is mentioned in this chapter, is from the game "Clone Wars"

Anakin, Yoda, Obi-Wan, Mace, Padme, and Bail Organa were gathered in Palpatine's office as he told them the situation and about the plans for the Death Star. The most shocking part of it was that for the superlaser, Palpatine would require contruction droids to repair the remains of the Dark Reaper, an ancient Sith superweapon that Anakin had destroyed a little over a month after the Battle and Destruction of Geonosis. Palpatine had explained that given more time, they could've built a superlaser from scratch, but since the Vong invasion wouldn't give them that much time…

    "Anyway," continued Palpatine, "I'd like all of you to meet two of the best commanders in the galaxy." He pressed a button on his desk and said into a built-in comlink, "You may come in now." The door to the office opened as its occupants turned around to see who the newcomers were. One was a tall thin man with brown hair and a narrow face that Anakin and Obi-Wan had seen before. The other looked like a human, except that he had blue skin and glowing red eyes. 

    Palpatine said, "Everyone, I'd like you to warmly welcome Commander Wilhuff Tarkin and Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo, whom I prefer to call 'Thrawn'." Anakin and Obi-Wan gasped at the sight of Tarkin and stared at him. Tarkin arched his eyebrow questioningly while Thrawn narrowed his eyes to glowing red slits.

    "Is something wrong?" asked Palpatine. Obi-Wan exclaimed, "We met Tarkin on Zonama Sekot before it disappeared into hyperspace! He tried to kill us!" Palpatine replied, "Tarkin can be trusted now. Believe me." Anakin and Obi-Wan reluctantly backed into the crowd of the others.

     Palpatine cleared his throat and continued, "Commander Tarkin secured a victory for us at Rodia and Commander Thrawn is new to the Republic. I learned of him after the Outbound Flight Project was destroyed. He was the one who did it. He's a tactical genius. I contacted him earlier and he agreed to join me. However, I've kept his existence a secret until now. Believe me, if anyone can help, it's him."

     Suddenly, the comlink on Palpatine's desk buzzed for attention. The Chancellor picked it up, listened for a moment, then frowned. He looked up and said, "That was Republic Military. The Vong are moving against Kamino and Naboo."

***

        "Yes, thank you, Warmaster," said Count Dooku. "I look forward to speaking with you again. Then, the villip inverted and broke the link with Czulkang Lah. Dooku leaned back in the leather chair of his luxurious suite on a world in the Corporate Sector and smiled to himself.

       Then he tapped a button on his comm unit and holograms of Nute Gunray of the Trade Federation, Shu Mai of the Commerce Guild, and Wat Tambor of the Techno Union appeared before them. Shu Mai immediately asked, "What news do you bring us, Count? Were the negotiations settled during your communiqué with the Warmaster?" Dooku confidently replied, "Yes. In fact, they went much better than they had anticipated." "So it is settled then?" asked Nute Gunray. Dooku smiled replied, "Yes, my Neimoidian friend. The Yuuzhan Vong have agreed to form an alliance with us."

After a few more minutes of conversing, at a more relaxed level, Dooku deactivated the comm unit. And sat back, his brow furrowed in deep thought. Yes, the day had finally come. He had betrayed Lord Sidious.

***

       Padme sat nervously in a chair aboard the Naboo Royal Cruiser as she headed back to her homeworld, escorted by two Naboo starfighters. Anakin had insisted on coming with her, and had told Obi-Wan that he was going to help direct traffic on Coruscant. Amazingly, Master Kenobi had believed his Padawan's ruse…or at least it seemed like he did. Anakin walked up from behind her and massaged her shoulders gently. "It's going to be okay, Padme. We won't let the Vong take Naboo," he whispered. 

        Padme whispered back, "I hope so, Anakin. I hope so."


	4. Disaster

**Ch.**** 4 Disaster**

      "So…Commander Thrawn," began Obi-Wan, "have you ever been to Mon Calamari?" Thrawn shook his head and asked, "Do either of you like art?" Obi-Wan and Siri both shook their heads. Suddenly, the pilot's voice crackled over the ship's comm and said, "We are on final approach to Kamino." Obi-Wan, Siri, Thrawn and another soldier named Gilad Pellaeon sat back in their chairs and buckled up for the emergence from hyperspace.

         They heard a beep and they emerged from hyperspace at Kamino. The Jedi, Thrawn, and Pellaeon rushed to the front of the ship and watched as the Vong ships around Kamino immediately attacked them.

    Thrawn sat down in an empty seat that had been reserved for him and immediately began giving orders. Obi-Wan had to admit, he was good. Eventually, his strategy allowed them to reach a point on the planet's watery surface where a distress signal had been coming from. A console in the ship identified the floating city as Harlan City.

***

     The door opened briskly and Thrawn, Obi-Wan, Siri, and Pellaeon marched into the sterile white corridors. They were greeted by a tall Kaminoan. "Good day to you, representatives of the Republic. The Prime Minister is waiting to see you. This way, please." The Kaminoan led them into a room, pressed a control panel, and the door slid open. They marched in.

And Obi-Wan gasped when the Prime Minister's seat turned around to face them.

"Greetings. So nice to see you again, Master Kenobi, Master Tachi," said Prime Minister Taun We.

  Obi-Wan gasped, "T-Taun We? What happened to Lama Su?" Taun We sadly bowed her head and replied, "He was killed during the Yuuzhan Vong invasion of Tipoca City. Now, our capital city is covered with yorik coral. The Yuuzhan Vong have shaped the entire city and cloning facility in order to create something, but we don't know what. As Lama Su's second-in-command, it was only logical for me to succeed him."

 Thrawn cleared his throat and asked, "We are here to reclaim the cloning facilities for you." Taun We shook her head and replied, "That is not possible. Our intelligence indicates that the Yuuzhan Vong have already gotten rid of Jango Fett's genetic material and killed all the developing clones and are preparing to use the facilities for their own purposes.

    "_Iktanos!_" muttered Thrawn, cursing in his native language of Chiss. Pellaeon scratched his gray hair nervously. Obi-Wan groaned. It would be a _long battle._

***

    Anakin slashed at the Yuuzhan Vong from behind as he raced through the halls of Theed Palace. The Vong had entered the capital city and Anakin, Padme, and the Republic troops were trying their best to hold them off. Anakin had just received word over his comlink that Otoh Gunga, capital city of the Gungans, had been destroyed.

    The Vong jumped in surprise before turning around to face him. But it was too late. Anakin shoved his lightsaber blade up the Vong's eye socket and out the other side of its head before it could do anything else. Then Anakin hurried down the hall, slashing at some battle droids as he ran. It had been a shock to him that the Yuuzhan Vong, who seemed to _hate _all machines, especially droids, had joined forces with the Separatists, whose army was almost completely made up of droids. __

_ I guess that just goes to show how much they want the Republic out of the picture_, he thought, as he hurried towards the Queen's throne room. 

   Only to find Queen Jamillia lying dead on the floor, a Yuuzhan Vong warrior slowly pulling his amphistaff from her body. Her bodyguards and handmaidens were also dead. Anakin roared in anger and rushed into the room, surprising the warrior. But this one was good. He started throwing bugs off a gondolier on his belt. Anakin dodged them and watched as they exploded on the wall behind the spot where he'd been standing a moment earlier. 

 Anakin used his Jedi Force skills to speed up his movements and dodge more thud bugs. The Vong finished pulling his amphistaff and managed to block Anakin's blade just in time to save his life and throw Anakin off his balance. _This one's good_, thought Anakin. The warrior was dressed in full vonduun crab armor that seemed to be growing from his own skin. He was heavily scarred and tattooed. He had two villips strapped to his shoulders. He also wore a full length black cape, also made of living material. Anakin finally recognized him from a picture he'd seen in a report from Senate Bureau of Intelligence Head Armand Isard.

  It was the Yuuzhan Vong Warmaster, Czulkang Lah. 

    Czulkang Lah grinned and said, in a halting accent, "You fight well, _Jeedai_." "Yeah, well I can't really say the same about you," replied Anakin smoothly, grinning sardonically. The Warmaster roared in rage at the insult and swung at Anakin with his amphistaff. Anakin blocked the blow, somersaulted to the other side of the room and beckoned, as if daring Czulkang Lah to come any closer. The mighty warrior gladly obliged. 

       He first threw a thud bug and a razor bug, a bug with durasteel-sharp wings, at Anakin. Anakin batted the thud bug out of the way with his lightsaber, but wasn't able to parry the razor bug. It hit him just above the knee. Anakin yelped in pain. Czulkang Lah grinned maliciously and leaped forward, brandishing his amphistaff. He then swung at Anakin.

    The weapon's fangs sank into Anakin's right arm just below the elbow. Anakin moaned in agony and crumpled against the wall. The Warmaster grinned and moved closer, poising his amphistaff to deliver the killing blow. "Any last words, infidel?" asked Czulkang Lah.

  With obvious effort, Anakin summoned his strength and replied, "Yeah: that amphistaff strike didn't hurt me! My right arm is robotic from the elbow down!" Then Anakin grinned and leapt up before the Warmaster could react and slashed off the Yuuzhan Vong's right arm.

     Czulkang Lah roared furiously before demanding, "What is your name?!" Anakin grinned and dramatically pointed his lightsaber in the air before declaring, "I'm Anakin Skywalker." Then, he kicked Lah in the face and swung his blade downward to deliver the fatal blow. 

    But at that very moment, a small figure raced into the room screaming, "Father!" Anakin's blade sliced through the Yuuzhan Vong child's torso. The child collapsed onto the floor, his body in two pieces. "_TSAVONG!!!__ MY SON!!!!!!!" shrieked Czulkang Lah. He ambled over and leaned down over the dying child's body. "F-father…" began the child, his blue-black blood flowing freely. He continued, "I-I sacrificed myself…to…to save you, Father." Czulkang Lah replied, his voice trembling, "You did well my son." "Thank you, Father." Then Tsavong Lah's body relaxed and closed his eyes._

    "My son…my son! NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" screamed Czulkang Lah. He turned on Anakin and shrieked, "_JEEDAI!!!! Before this war is over, I will slaughter you with my bare hands!!!! I will tear the entrails from your body!!! I am the one who will show you this galaxy before we, the Yuuzhan Vong, tear it to pieces and remake it…as our own." He glared hatefully at Anakin. Anakin replied, "Well why don't you try, and we'll both see who gets torn to pieces." Then Anakin turned around and fled the scene. He'd just received the order over a comlink attached to his collar that Tarkin's defense of Naboo had failed and the Republic was now retreating. He just hoped Padme would manage to escape._

***

      About an hour later, Czulkang Lah was sitting silently on his cognition throne, which was now positioned atop a balcony of the devastated Theed Palace. He watched in utter silence as huge fires engulfed the city of Theed, which was spread out on the plain before him. He would have felt great pride at having conquered the homeworld of Chancellor Palpatine of the infidel Republic.

    He _would _have, if his beloved son Tsavong Lah were still alive. But even though Theed was being destroyed before his very eyes, all his hopes and dreams for his son's future had also been destroyed the moment the _Jeedai Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber had ended his son's life. Finally, he barked, "Zitchta, bring me the oggzil villip!" His subaltern rushed onto the balcony gently carrying the organic device. It was a creature that was able to broadcast messages on infidel frequencies. Czulkang Lah muttered, "Open the villip to all Republic frequencies. I want all of the infidels to hear this message. Zitchta nervously obeyed, and Czulkang Lah leaned forward, gazing sullenly at the villip and said, "Infidels followers of the so-called Galactic Republic! I now bring you this message! I am Warmaster Czulkang Lah, leader of the warriors of the Great People, the Yuuzhan Vong! And I am offering great rewards to anyone of you who brings me the body of a member of the _Jeedai _Order! But in particular, I want one specific _Jeedai _more than the others! His name is Anakin Skywalker and I will reward anyone who brings him to me twice the amount I would reward someone who brings me any other _Jeedai! _But I want him alive, so that I may kill him myself!"_

***

    Palpatine sat in silence in his darkened office. Naboo had fallen, and Dooku had betrayed him and joined the Yuuzhan Vong. He silently acknowledged that the galaxy was about to face its darkest time. _Yes, _he thought. _Dark times indeed._


	5. Rescue

**Ch.**** 5 Rescue**

    Padme slowly opened her eyes and looked around. It took her a few moments to realize that she was lying in an alley in the streets of Theed. And the streets of Theed had been burned. Padme gasped in horror. Theed was practically destroyed. The city was in ruins. And there was nothing she could do about it. Naboo had fallen to the Yuuzhan Vong.

    She stood up and looked around again. There were already signs of the Vong re-shaping Naboo with their own lifeforms. The remains of the buildings and statues were already covered with yorik coral. She looked up at the cliff were Theed Palace had been. It was still there.

     But now, it too was covered in multi-colored yorik coral. She pulled out her electrobinoculars and zoomed in on the Palace. She could see that all the statues surrounding the structure had also been converted to yorik coral…and the human faces on the statues had been replaced by the scarified and tattooed faces of Yuuzhan Vong.

   Padme put the electrobinoculars down and looked around again. She could hear the sounds of animals in the distance. She looked up into the sky. But instead of clear blue, the skies of Naboo were blood-red.

    Naboo had been her home. But now she hated it.

***

    Palpatine wearily addressed the Senate. It had been a week since forces were dispatched to Naboo and Kamino. The forces at Naboo under Tarkin had lost and had then been sent to protect Bothawui. But the forces at Kamino were still locked in a deadly siege over the planet against the Vong.

     He told the Senate about how Thrawn's forces were doing the best they could, and the usual spiel. "And in conclusion," he said, "I would like to offer condolences to all the people of Naboo. I myself am from Naboo, and I deeply regret-" But before Palpatine could continue, a thud bug flew out from the gallery towards him. Mas Amedda screamed and jumped between Palpatine and the projectile. The thud bug exploded as it hit Mas Amedda's chest. The Chancellor's aide dropped dead onto Palpatine's platform. Palpatine's other aide, Sly Moore, immediately pulled out a shield and placed it over Palpatine as several more thud bugs flew towards him.

      Mace and Yoda, who had been watching from a balcony, immediately sprung into action. Mace, igniting his purple lightsaber, asked, "Where is it coming from?!" Yoda closed his eyes and tried to feel every Senator in the room, silently counting them. Then he realized…

    "Replaced by a Yuuzhan Vong spy, the Senator from Corellia has!" Mace and Yoda quickly used the Force to leap over onto a nearby floating platform. The Senator in the platform stood back and let the Jedi Masters pilot it towards the platform where the Vong infiltrator was. 

   As soon as it got close enough, Mace and Yoda leaped onto the Corellian platform and neatly sliced the spy in two. They deactivated their lightsabers and wearily returned them to their belts. The Senate was now in a complete and total uproar that no amount of calming would stop. Mas Amedda was dead. There had been an assassination attempt on the Chancellor. And they had only just discovered that Senator Garm bel Iblis had been killed and replaced by a Yuuzhan Vong spy. This was simply too much for them to handle. Palpatine, just visibly trembling, immediately dismissed the Senate for the rest of the day.

***

    Thrawn stood at the window watching the explosions go on outside Harlan City on Kamino. The Republic forces were attempting to fend off yet another attack from the Yuuzhan Vong forces, who were occupying the other half of the planet. He sighed and shook his head. All of his strategies were working perfectly. There was just one problem.

   There were too many Yuuzhan Vong out there.

  And now, Czulkang Lah had sent an entire worldship to orbit Kamino. And word was that Czulkang Lah had conquered Naboo, dedicated it to the Yun-Yammka, the Yuuzhan Vong god of war, renamed it, and was using it as a temporary headquarters.

       Yammka'tar. Yes, that was what they had named it. According to reports from Intelligence head Armand Isard, in their language, "Yammka'tar" meant "Cradle of War." Thrawn shook his head again. It was all so sudden. He had never been so shocked before. From what Palpatine had told him, Naboo was a peaceful planet.

   "Commander Thrawn?" asked a voice. Thrawn turned around. It was Colonel Pellaeon. Pellaeon continued, "The Jedi…have a suggestion." He gestured to General Kenobi and General Tachi, who had been standing at the back of the room. They stepped forward and Kenobi said, "I've realized that…we can't hold Kamino any longer." Thrawn frowned, but in his heart, he knew it was true. Kenobi continued, "Therefore, you should evacuate the Kaminoans and then order a full retreat. However, I will stay behind to investigate the Yuuzhan Vong. Perhaps I can find information that may be of use to the Republic."

   Thrawn arched his blue-black eyebrows. Even he hadn't expected this. Pellaeon and Tachi also seemed to be taken aback. Suddenly, Tachi spoke up and said, "Then I'll stay too." Now everyone turned to stare at her. 

  "Siri, you can't stay…" began General Kenobi. Tachi cut him off by saying, "Listen, Obi-Wan. If you're staying, I'm staying too, whether you like it or not."

    Thrawn arched his eyebrows again. He and Pellaeon looked at each other before Thrawn cleared his throat and asked, "Colonel Pellaeon, do _you _plan on joining this little party as well?" Pellaeon jumped and stuttered, "Um…uh, no sir." Thrawn nodded gravely. He didn't like this idea one bit. 

   "How will you escape?" he asked seriously. Generals Kenobi and Tachi looked at each other before Kenobi looked back at Thrawn and replied, "I thought maybe we could, ah, hijack a coralskipper when we plan to make our escape. Besides, it may provide insight as to how the coralskippers operate."

   Thrawn thought over it for a minute. At first he _really _didn't like it. But the more he thought about it, he realized it was just crazy enough to work.

   A slight smile curling the corners of his mouth, he replied, "Then when you escape, rendezvous with my fleet at Bothawui. I'll know it's you because you'll be the only coralskipper in the sky. I'll notify my troops not to fire on you."

Kenobi and Tachi nodded. Thrawn sincerely hoped this plan worked.

***

   Obi-Wan and Siri stood side-by-side on the landing pad as the Republic ships took off into the rainy sky. There was only one ship left now. Thrawn and Pellaeon were standing on top of the boarding ramp.

  "Are you sure about this?" shouted Thrawn through the rain. "You do realize that this is your last chance to cancel the plan." Obi-Wan looked at Siri. She shook her head. Obi-Wan turned back to Thrawn and shook his head as well. Thrawn considered them for a moment before finally nodding and saying, "May the Force be with you." "And also with you," replied Obi-Wan. Thrawn and Pellaeon turned around into the ship and the ramp pulled up. The doors closed and the ship flew away. When it was finally out of sight, Siri asked, "So, what do we do now?" Obi-Wan smiled and said, "I wish I knew." 


	6. Save Me

**Ch.**** 6 Save Me**

    Czulkang Lah, Count Dooku, Nute Gunray, and several Yuuzhan Vong watched as the subaltern placed the villip on a small organic table before Lah's cognition throne, which was now seated in the former throne room of Queen Jamillia, which had in turn, once belonged to former Queen Amidala.

   The villip opened and the terrifying face of Supreme Overlord Stast, unquestioned ruler of the Yuuzhan Vong, and the only person that Czulkang Lah answered to. He snarled and said, "Warmaster, report immediately!"

 Czulkang Lah began relating in detail about the conquest of Naboo and the Republic's recent retreat from Kamino, and about how he had decided to dedicate Naboo to Yun-Yammka and rename it Yammka'tar.

 Just then, two warriors burst in, carrying a human woman between them. The bowed before Czulkang Lah and the villip of Supreme Overlord Stast before saying, "We have a prisoner!" 

  Overlord Stast snarled and snapped, "What is this human filth?!" The warriors openly flinched and one of them stammered, "Re-Republic Senator Padme Amidala. We found her wandering the streets of Obra."

 Amidala looked up and said, "_That's what you renamed Theed?" _

  "_SILENCE, INFIDEL!!_" screeched the Supreme Overlord. He continued, in a menacing tone, "I am Supreme Overlord Stast, absolute ruler of the Yuuzhan Vong and the only being in the Universe who can communicate with the Great Leader of the Gods, Yun-Yuuzhan!"

  Amidala looked the Overlord straight in the eye the whole time. Czulkang Lah had to admit he was impressed. Even he sometimes feared Stast's wrath, and yet this infidel Senator, and former Queen, according to Chastae Anor's spy reports, wasn't afraid of him. She was naïve. But she was still quite brave.

  Amidala calmly replied, "What do you want with the galaxy? Can't we negotiate-" The Overlord cut her off and snapped, "Be silent! Warmaster! See that she is tortured and interrogated!!! Show her…the Embrace of Pain!!!"

***

    Obi-Wan and Siri peeked out of the corridor at the gigantic machines holding the Spaarti cloning cylinders used by the Kaminoans to create the clone army. Now, the machines had been transformed into gigantic machine-like creatures and the glass cloning cylinders were translucent green pods.

   Inside each pod was a small shape that seemed like a cross between a reptile and a dog with a snub-like nose. At the bottom of the room containing the cloning equipment, several Yuuzhan Vong walked around, wearing spiny headdresses.

  "I've seen the Intelligence reports," whispered Obi-Wan. "These Vong are called 'Shapers'. They design and create the Vong biotech." 

  He pointed at the largest and ugliest one. "That's the leader of the Shapers. Her name is Valah Kwaad." Siri rolled her eyes and demanded, "So what do we do now?" Obi-Wan replied, "Now, we capture one of those cloning pods, hijack a coralskipper, and get off this Force-forsaken planet."

  Siri bluntly replied, "It's not gonna be that easy." Obi-Wan solemnly turned to her and said, "We must do this, and escape alive for the sake of our…you-know-what." Siri looked up at Obi-Wan and nodded gravely.

***

    Anakin blasted another coralskipper as he made his way into Naboo's atmosphere. It was hard to believe it was Naboo, because the atmosphere was blood-red. Anakin was piloting Padme's silver Naboo Cruiser. Originally, this ship didn't have weapons. Those days were long over.

   Now that the Republic was fighting the Yuuzhan Vong and the Separatists, it had been necessary to arm Padme's ship with deadly weapons.

Anakin flew over the ruins of Theed, now covered in multicolored yorik coral, his sensors scanning the area for any sign of Padme.

***

   A subaltern bowed to Czulkang Lah. The Warmaster nodded and the subaltern said, "I bring you news, great Warmaster. After torturing the infidel Senator, we locked her in a small room and hid a villip in the room so we could overhear her. We heard her wailing the name 'Anakin' over and over again. We believe that she may be Anakin Skywalker's mate.

  Dooku, who was standing beside the Warmaster, arched his eyebrows. Czulkang Lah smiled maliciously. "Really," he said. The subaltern nodded and continued, "And we've detected Amidala's personal transport flying over this city. We believe Skywalker is piloting it." The Warmaster's evil grin grew even wider and said, "Bring him to me. I think we have a little surprise for him."


	7. Aggression

**Ch.**** 7 Aggression**

   Anakin walked into the throne room, flanked by Yuuzhan Vong guards. The Vong had hailed him and told him that the Warmaster had Padme and was awaiting his arrival. Anakin could see that the Warmaster was trembling with malicious glee as he approached. Count Dooku, standing beside him, was smirking sardonically. However, the Neimoidian Nute Gunray didn't seem to like the idea of a Jedi being brought right in front of him and was visibly trembling.

  Czulkang Lah snarled, "Anakin Skywalker, I have Padme Amidala in my custody…or should I say Padme Amidala _Skywalker."_

  Anakin's eyes widened in horror. "_How…how…" _he stuttered. Lah grinned again and replied "It is not important. What is important is what we do to her." He motioned to a subaltern, who then spoke into a villip. Several guards walked in, dragging Padme between them. Her hair was ragged, as were her clothes, she seemed to be bruised and battered, and could barely lift her head and gasp, "_Anakin…_"

  "NOOOO!!!!!!!!" roared Anakin. He rushed at Czulkang Lah, but was blocked by several amphistaffs. Dooku chuckled at the Padawan. Czulkang Lah said, "Remember, your mate's life now depends on my decision. Oh, as well as the lives of your unborn twins."

  This stopped Anakin dead in his tracks. "Twins?" he asked. Czulkang Lah replied, "A boy and a girl, it seems." Padme managed to say, "Anakin, I meant to tell you when we evacuated Naboo, but then I was captured, and…"

Dooku said, "The choice is yours, young Skywalker. You can either duel the Warmaster, or watch as your wife and unborn children die."

  Before Anakin could reply, an explosion shook the palace and a hole burst open in the wall, the debris hitting a few Vong. A stream of Jedi led my Mace Windu and Yoda rushed into the room. They had all ignited their lightsabers and were now busily hacking at the guards. Dooku roared in anger. Nute Gunray pointed at Padme and screeched, "_Kill her! KILL HER!!!!!" The Vong guards restraining Padme ignored him. Even though the Vong were allied with the Separatists, they _never _took orders from Neimoidians._

  Mace rushed at Lah and Yoda rushed towards Dooku. They ceased a hair's breath away from their enemies. The Jedi and the remaining Vong stood silently. Padme whimpered. Lah growled, "So what will it be, _Jeedai?_" Mace steadied his purple lightsaber and replied, "That's up to you. We can do this the easy way, or the hard way. Either way, you lose."

  Dooku ignited his red lightsaber and snarled, "It won't be that easy!" he leaped at Yoda. 

   Yoda's green blade met Dooku's red one and the two engaged in a duel. Everyone stood silently watching them, except Anakin who muttered, "Yoda vs. Dooku Round Two."

  Yoda leaped into the air and Dooku followed, spraying Force lightning out of his left hand as he swung at the diminutive Jedi Master with his right. Yoda caught the lightning with his bare hand, using the Force to drain its power, and blocked every move Dooku made with his lightsaber.

  Dooku, who was by now furious roared again and attempted to slice Yoda's head off. Yoda blocked and instead regained the initiative, leaped into the air and sliced Dooku's right arm off from the elbow down.

  Dooku collapsed to the floor. Czulkang Lah said, "Impressive display. But I'm afraid you won't stop us that easily. He pressed an organic trigger on the side of his cognition throne. There was a burst of smoke and a blinding flash of light. 

When it cleared up, the Vong and Separatists were gone. Thankfully, they had left Padme behind. Anakin rushed to her side and helped her to her feet. Yoda muttered, "Time to leave, it is."

***

  Obi-Wan and Siri rushed across the top of Tipoca City, the rain pouring down on them and sliding down the yorik coral rooftop. Siri had the green pod containing one of the dog-reptile embryos they had seen in the cloning lab slung across her back like a backpack. There was a landing pad here. Obi-Wan slashed the last guard and he and Siri rushed for the nearest coralskipper. 

  And they were stopped dead in their tracks by a dark presence in the Force. The two Jedi Knights turned around to face this new threat and gasped because it wasn't a _new _threat at all.

  It was Xanatos.


	8. Resurrection

**Ch.**** 8 Resurrection**

   "Xanatos?!" gasped Obi-Wan. "B-But, how…how did you…" "Survive?" finished Xanatos, his ragged black hair blowing in the wind, a fierce, maniacal look in his eyes. 

     Xanatos chuckled and said, "When I fell into that acid pit on Telos, I didn't _die_. I was simply _preserved_. The acid would've scalded me to death, but I was using a burst of Force energy when I fell in the pit, so the acid instead formed a stable, Force-enhanced compound around my body, preserving me for years…until the Yuuzhan Vong came. They had conquered Telos, and they were searching the planet for slaves and natural resources. They found me in the pit, and awoke me from my slumber. When they found out that I used to be a Jedi, but now hated them, they brought me here to Kamino when they arrived here…and they performed an experiment on me."

"Xanatos, what-" began Obi-Wan. Then he realized. He could only _partially feel his dark rival in the Force. _

  Xanatos said, "They _shaped me. I am now half Yuuzhan Vong, half human." He ignited his red lightsaber in his right hand, and uncoiled an amphistaff in his left hand. Then he sneered, "Now, I'll have revenge on you and that fool Qui-Gon!" Obi-Wan replied, "Qui-Gon _died _ten years ago. You're too late to finish him."_

  Xanatos blinked in surprise, then regained his composure and said, "Well then, I guess that only leaves you and I. Two former Padawans of that fool. He paid to much attention to the living Force to realize how horrible a Master he really was…"

  Obi-Wan yelled in anger and rushed at Xanatos, igniting his blue lightsaber. "Obi-Wan, use this!" yelled Siri, throwing him her purple lightsaber as she struggled to open one of the coralskippers. Obi-Wan grabbed her saber in mid-jump and blocked Xanatos' lightsaber with one lightsaber, and Xanatos' amphistaff with the other lightsaber. 

  They engaged in their deadly duel.

***

   Thrawn listened patiently to Tarkin's report on the situation here at Bothawui. He'd just arrived. The Kaminoans had continued on to Coruscant to be sent to various refugee camps. Except for the core of their government, which had insisted on staying with Thrawn. "And now that Jango Fett's original, unaltered genetic material has been destroyed, if we produce any more clones, they won't be of very good quality," he finished.

  Thrawn thought about this for a few moments before turning to Taun We, who was seated at the conference table. "Do you have any suggestions, Prime Minister?" he asked smoothly. "There is still _one source where we can get Jango Fett's material unaltered," she replied._

  "And what might that be?" asked Thrawn mildly. Taun We cleared her throat and continued, "When the arrangement for the Clone Army was agreed upon, Jango Fett requested…"

  "An unaltered clone for himself," finished Thrawn. "Yes, now I remember reading Master Kenobi's report," he continued. "The clone was named 'Boba Fett', was it not?"

   "That is correct, Commander," replied Taun We. She continued, "The Jedi sent Master Siri Tachi to Kamino to fetch him right after the Battle and Destruction of Geonosis, but I'm afraid he slipped through our fingers. His whereabouts are now unknown."

  "Not for long," Thrawn replied, standing up. "Admiral Tre'ast," he began, nodding towards the Bothan admiral who was seated in the conference room with them. "Tell Pellaeon to take all my messages. I myself will oversee the capture of Boba Fett." Tre'ast nodded and he, Thrawn, Taun We, and Tarkin left the conference room.

  _And so begins the hunt for Boba Fett, _thought Thrawn.


	9. The Hunt for Boba Fett

**Ch.**** 9 The Hunt for Boba Fett**

Boba silently looked out the viewport as _Slave I _landed on the surface of Concord Dawn. This was originally his father's home planet, and Boba had nowhere else to go. He had wanted to go to Tatooine to meet Jabba the Hutt, as per the instructions his father had left for him, but Tatooine had been conquered by the Vong and Jabba had been ritually sacrificed to Yun-Yuuzhan, the Supreme God of the Yuuzhan Vong.

 He stepped out of _Slave I and heard someone tap against its hull. It wasn't him. He immediately spun around, whipping out a blaster. The tall lean humanoid leaning against _Slave I _looked like a human, except that he had blue skin and glowing red eyes. He had black-blue hair. Beside him stood a mustached man and a Twi'lek wielding a blue lightsaber._

  "Who are you?" demanded Boba. The blue man smiled and replied, "I am Commander Thrawn of the Grand Army of the Republic," he gestured at the mustached man and continued, "This is Colonel Gilad Pellaeon," he gestured at the Twi'lek Jedi and said, ", this is Aayla Secura," he then gestured at the twelve ugly men behind him aiming their heavy-duty blasters at Boba. "And these are some local mercenaries I've hired right here on Concord Dawn," he finished.

  Boba glared hatefully at Aayla Secura. He'd hated all Jedi, ever since Mace Windu had killed his father. Then he demanded, "How did you find me?!"

  Thrawn smiled ruefully and replied, "It was quite easy, actually. You see, I've read the files about your, ahem, _father Jango Fett and found out that he was from this planet. I knew you had barely been anywhere except Kamino from what Master Siri Tachi reported after speaking with Taun We, so I realized that your natural curiosity about your father's origins would bring you here."_

  _Stang!, _thought Boba. _If I want to be a successful bounty hunter, I've got to stop being so predictable!_

Thrawn continued, "Now, if you'll be so kind as to follow us back to my ship, we'll leave immediately for Coruscant. I've been ordered by the Chancellor to bring you straight to him. Then, Taun We will join us on Coruscant, and keep you under her custody until we've built a new cloning facility."

  "And where might this new facility be?" asked Boba innocently. Thrawn smiled and replied, "Coruscant. That way, the new facilities will be much more heavily guarded."

  Boba was _not _gonna let himself be shipped off to Coruscant, where he had little chance of escape. Suddenly, he had an idea.

Boba slipped his hand inside his pocket and pressed a small remote he had recently linked to _Slave I_'s main computer. The ship's response was instantaneous. It immediately rose from the ground and began shooting at Thrawn and his companions. _Slave I's computer had been programmed to recognize Boba, so it didn't shoot at him._

  The Jedi Aayla Secura immediately blocked the bolts with her lightsaber and while his enemies were momentarily distracted, Boba leaped onto the ramp that lowered towards him from _Slave I at the touch of another button on the remote. Blaster bolts flew past his head and he heard Thrawn screaming, "No! We need him __alive!"_

  Boba looked down at Thrawn and sneered, "Fat chance!" He pressed the access panel inside _Slave I _and the ramp closed. Boba rushed to the cockpit and flew off. 

  _Whew! That was a close one!_, he thought as _Slave I _breached the atmosphere. He quickly prepared the ship to enter hyperspace.

***

"What will you do now, Commander? How will we catch him?" asked Pellaeon. Thrawn smiled slyly and said, "I've already got it covered. You see, when I was leaning against his ship a minute ago, I was actually placing a small homing beacon on its hull. Wherever he goes, we can follow."

  Pellaeon was clearly surprised. As usual, Thrawn never ceased to amaze him.

***

  "What news do you bring me, Commander?" asked Chancellor Palpatine over the secure comm frequency. Thrawn replied, "Boba Fett has evaded capture, but I've placed a homing beacon on his ship's hull. We've now been able to analyze his trajectory through hyperspace and we've figured out where he's headed next."

  "And where would that be?" asked Palpatine.

"Kashyyyk," replied Thrawn. "I have commanded the captain of the assault ship _Halleck to rendezvous with me at Kashyyyk. I highly doubt young Boba will be able to escape from a ship __that size."_


End file.
